President Zelensky says situation in Eastern Ukraine is difficult; Switzerland opposes returning tanks to Germany

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky today (February 5) commented that the war situation in the Donbass region is having many complicated developments.

“On the 346th day of the conflict, I must say that the situation on the front line is very difficult, and will become even more difficult. The enemy continues to send troops to break through our defenses. The situation in the Bakhmut, Vuhledar, Lyman and other areas is very serious,” Zelensky was quoted as saying by the website President.gov.ua.

Ukrainian artillery in action near Bakhmut in November 2022. Photo: AP

“Russian soldiers are trying to take control of the city of Vuhledar, located about 120km southwest of Bakhmut,” Mr. Zelensky added.

According to The Guardian, Mr. Zelensky's comments about the war situation in Bakhmut are completely well-founded, as intelligence released by the British Ministry of Defense also gave similar content.

“Over the past week, the Russian military has continued to make small advances in tightening the siege of Bakhmut. The two main routes used by Ukrainian defense forces, M03 and H32, are currently under threat from enemy fire. At the same time, Wagner private military forces have also taken control of a road leading from Bakhmut to Siversk,” the British Ministry of Defense intelligence bulletin said.

Swiss lawmakers oppose returning German tanks

The Senate Security Committee of the Swiss Parliament said that the Leopard tanks, which have been decommissioned and are in the country's military reserves, "are an important part of the army and there is no way they will be returned to Germany."

“A total of 96 Leopard 87s, the Swiss version of the Leopard 2 tank, have been decommissioned and are in military reserves. Many of them were produced in Switzerland under German license, but the first batch of 35 were assembled in Germany in 1987,” RT news agency quoted the Swiss Senate Security Committee as saying.

“Some lawmakers have recently proposed returning 30 Leopard 2s to Germany, just a week after Berlin approved the transfer of 14 tanks from its arsenal to Kiev. However, we must clarify that the decommissioned tanks represent strategic reserves, so they should be retained rather than returned to production. They could still be re-equipped with Swiss army brigades or as surplus equipment for the existing tank force,” the statement added.